Federal Daily - July 28, 2009

House Approves 10% SSA Budget Hike for FY 2010

The House on July 24 passed the $160.7-billion Labor-Health & Human Services Dept.-Education Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3293) by a vote of 264 to 153. The bill contains a 10 percent increase in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 funding for Social Security Administration (SSA) staffing—which could mean a significant number of new positions at the agency. The FY 2010 funding of $11.4 billion for SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses is a $1 billion increase over FY 2009, and matches the FY 2010 budget request proposed by President Obama. The vote was praised by the Federal Managers Association (FMA), which represents managers and supervisors in SSA’s Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. FMA pointed out that the funding would allow the hiring of 1,645 new employees, boosting SSA staff levels to a total of 65,114. “FMA and SSA officials have long agreed that increasing the agency’s staff levels constitutes a vital component of efforts to boost productivity,” said FMA President Darryl Perkinson. “And the budget approved by the House allows SSA to expand its workforce to a level appropriate for the amount of work that must be performed.” To see more, go to: www.fedmanagers.org/public/announcement.cfm?id=362.

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TRICARE Still Experiencing Provider Gaps in Rural Areas

Military families are still having problems finding off-installation TRICARE providers, especially in more rural areas, according to testimony last week by the Army’s top noncommissioned officer. Army Sgt. Maj. Kenneth O. Preston testified on the issue before the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee. Preston said military families are experiencing problems finding providers who accept TRICARE insurance outside of those on military installations, according to Army News Service. Preston said he believes the limited number of health-care providers who accept the plan is being driven by TRICARE’s past record of slow payments. “Many of them were left with a bad taste in their mouth from dealing with TRICARE before because of the length of time it took to get reimbursement,” Preston said. However, TRICARE has been revamped to improve payment processing times, he said. Soldiers and their family members were happy with the quality of medical care they received under TRICARE and listed it as a main reason the stayed with the plan, Preston said. To see more, go to: www.army.mil/-news/2009/07/23/24823-sma-calls-for-review-of-tricare
-standards/?ref=news-home-title7. Also see Preston’s prepared testimony at: http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/MilPers072209/
Preston_Testimony072209.pdf.

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VA Records 1 Billion Medical Images

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical imaging division on July 24 announced it had received and stored more than 1 billion medical images, which includes VA patient data such as clinical images, scanned documents, motion video and other non-text items. VA said it reached the 1 billion image level in January and expects to add a total of 290 million images to the data bank this year. Using digital images makes remote diagnosis and treatment possible and permits in-home monitoring of some patients’ conditions. It also eliminates travel for patients needing follow-up care and makes services available in medically underserved areas, VA said. “Using this technology, VA has established an unprecedented number of medical images in its database, allowing VA physicians immediate access to patient records regardless of their location,” said Gerald Cross, VA’s acting under secretary for health. “Our veterans don’t have to wait for hospital staff to find x-rays or make comparisons between a patient’s past and current records.” To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1738.

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